Eyeshield 21
Eyeshield 21 (Japanese: アイシールド21 Hepburn: Aishīrudo Nijūichi) is a Japanese manga series written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. The series tells the story of Sena Kobayakawa and Kakeru Toriyama, Sena is an introverted boy who joins an American football club as a secretary, but after being coerced by Yoichi Hiruma turns out to play wearing an eyeshield and the number 21, under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21" and Kakeru is a Young man who known to many as a notorious delinquent since middle school join the American Football club after fallen in love Kotoha Haneda who convince him to join and Hiruma gave him the pseudonym Linebacker 41. Inagaki chose American football as a central subject of Eyeshield 21 after realizing that it fit perfectly with his idea for the series. The manga was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2002 to June 2009. The series consists of 333 chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes. An anime adaptation consisting of 145 television episodes was co-produced by TV Tokyo, NAS, and Gallop. The television series first aired on Japan's TV Tokyo network from April 6, 2005 to March 19, 2008. The Eyeshield 21 franchise has spawned two original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise. In North America, the manga was released by Viz Media from April 2005 to October 2011. The anime series was later licensed in North America by Toonami Jetstream as a joint effort with Viz Media, and aired on December 17, 2007 on its site, but before its completion, the streaming service was shut down. The whole series was streamed in English by Crunchyroll, while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from Section23 Films on DVDs. In Japan, the Eyeshield 21 manga has sold over 20 million volumes. The manga and anime have been featured at various times in weekly top ten lists of best-selling in their respective media. The anime has been watched by a large number of television viewers in Japan, helping to raise American football's popularity in the country. Publications for manga, anime and others have commented on Eyeshield 21, which received positive comments for its artwork and characters, and negative responses to its non-football scenes. Plot In Tokyo, |group=note}} a weak, unassertive boy named Sena Kobayakawa and Kakeru Toriyama a notorious delinquent and have been reject many time by girl since middle school enters the high school of their choice — Deimon Private Senior High School. Sena's only remarkable physical abilities are his running speed and agility and Kakeru possess remarkable stamina strength running speed and agility, which are noted by the school's American football team captain Yoichi Hiruma Kenichi Haneda and Kotoha Haneda. Hiruma forces Sena to join the Deimon Devil Bats football team as its running back while Kotoha convinces Kakeru to join the team as a Running Linebacker. Sena is forced to publicly assume the role of team secretary and enter the field under the pseudonym of "Eyeshield 21" wearing a helmet with an eyeshield to hide his features and Kakeru takes the pseudonym Linebacker 41 by Hiruma in order to Intimidate rivals teams. The makeshift team initially takes part in the spring football tournament hoping to win through the strength of their new "secret weapon". However, the extremely weak team is eliminated early by the Ojo White Knights, one of the best football teams in Japan. After Deimon's defeat, the spring tournament is revealed as secondary in importance to the fall tournament, where the teams compete for the chance to play in the Christmas Bowl — the high school football league championship. Kenichi Hiruma, Izuru Haneda Ryokan Kurita, Kakeru and Sena regroup and slowly build a real team from misfits and students looking to define themselves, such as Tarō "Monta" Raimon — a baseball player who can only catch — Yosuke Furukawa a high stamina altlete and the Ha-Ha Brothers. Other characters slowly join the team, and the series follows the building and growth of the Deimon Devil Bats and its members, and rival teams as they all strive to achieve their goal of playing in the Christmas Bowl. Sometime after the Deimon Devil Bats win the Christmas Bowl and they become the best team in the country, Japan begins to gather the best football players to form a team to represent it at the American Football Youth World Championship, where a Most Valuable Player (MVP) will be awarded an NFL contract and $3 million. Team Japan reaches the final against Team America, in which the game ends as a tie, and both teams are declared winners. Both teams are unsatisfied with this and return to the field for their own, improvised "overtime", causing chaos with officials. It is unclear which team wins the unofficial extra period, but Panther of Team America holds the MVP trophy aloft, winning the professional contract with the San Antonio Armadillos. The series concludes with Sena becoming the captain of the Devil Bats after Hiruma Izuru and Kurita leave school to attend college. In his final year of high school, Sena and Kakeru is invited to Notre Dame High School. In the final chapter, the main characters are in college or playing amateur-league football while employed.